Chanhassen High principal charged with possessing child porn

Updated 4 p.m. | Posted 12:22 p.m.

Chanhassen High School Principal Timothy Dorway was charged Thursday with seven felony counts of possession of child pornography, dating back as much as a decade.

Carver County charging documents say a tip led investigators to Dorway's Dropbox account where they allegedly found 11 child porn videos.

The complaint says Dorway admitted to viewing child pornography, and that "his primary interest" was pornography involving girls ages 11 to 13. He allegedly told authorities that he receives Dropbox links of child pornography from other individuals and would watch the links and sometimes save the videos.

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents on Tuesday arrested Dorway at his Victoria home on suspicion of possessing child pornography. He is on administrative leave from his job and the Eastern Carver County Schools district is conducting a separate investigation.

School district officials have said law enforcement authorities have made it clear the allegations do not involve district students.

A district statement on Thursday noted that Dorway had accessed the online storage account with the suspected videos from a district computer network but emphasized that it was his personal account and that the district network uses filters to block "inappropriate content."

John Conard, Dorway's attorney, said that Dorway's ex-wife and family had been interviewed, as well as Dorway's present "significant other" and her minor children, and that there has been "no indication of any inappropriate contact with children."

Dorway and his former wife divorced in 2014. She was also in the courtroom on Thursday.

Dorway, 44, began his education career in 1995 as an English, journalism and speech teacher at Park High School in Cottage Grove, according to the biography posted on the Chanhassen High website. He's also served as an assistant high school principal in Owatonna, Minn.

He was principal at Rochester Mayo High School in Rochester, Minn., from 2007 until 2010, when he left to take the Chanhassen job.

Prosecutor Angella Erickson on Thursday asked for a $1 million bond for Dorway's release, adding, "There is concern for Mr. Dorway's personal safety, his mental health and the effect of these charges."

Judge Janet Cain set bail at $100,000 cash or $100,000 bond, although Conard said he thought it unlikely that Dorway would earn release. He's due back in court Dec. 23.

Conard said that he believes federal authorities may also be looking at Dorway's case, and that federal charges are a possibility.

Erickson, the prosecutor, said in court she wasn't in contact with anyone from the U.S. Attorney's Office and that she didn't have anything to disclose about a potential federal prosecution.